Let’s celebrate volunteers
Every December, VolunteeringACT proudly hosts the premier recognition event for volunteers in the Canberra Region, the Volunteering Awards.
Volunteer managers, volunteers, leaders and friends can nominate outstanding individuals and teams of volunteers as a way of honouring their efforts and important contributions to the ACT community. The ceremony makes visible stories of spirit, kindness, innovation, inclusion and resilience that inspire our whole community.
In 2023, we received more than 70 nominations, including individuals and teams across nine award categories. The awards ceremony happened on Tuesday, 5 December 2023 at the National Portrait Gallery.
Thank you to all who joined us on the night to celebrate volunteers!
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Award Category Winners & Highly Commended Recipients
Volunteer of the Year Award
WINNER: Richard Allen
For over 40 years, Richard has demonstrated exceptional commitment to creating a more inclusive and compassionate Canberra community. His unwavering support to and advocacy for people living with and impacted by HIV/AIDS has established him as a devoted advocate for LGBTIQ+ rights
Richard’s tireless dedication has touched the lives of countless individuals, creating an inclusive environment that is a testament to his conviction.
Canberra’s Choice Award
WINNER: Rachel Eslick-Angus
Rachel has been doing incredible work as a Feel the Magic Camp mentor.
Feel the Magic provides early intervention grief education programs for kids aged 7 to 18 who are experiencing pain and isolation due to the death of a parent, guardian or sibling.
Rachel not only provides support to grieving children on the frontline by facilitating our programs, but she also helps us maximise the impact of our organisation to reach more grieving families.
WINNER: ACT Victims Justice Volunteer Program
Volunteers at the ACT Victims Justice Volunteer Program provides emotional and practical support to victims of crime engaging in criminal justice processes in the Canberra community.
The volunteers are extremely motivated to ensure victims’ experiences are supportive ones, and victims often report that volunteers help them feel supported without their friends or family having to hear extremely personal details of their violent experience.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Perinatal Wellbeing Centre Volunteers
The Perinatal Wellbeing Centre volunteers provide essential onsite support to the childcare team to ensure childcare can occur during group sessions.
This allows parents to be focused and attentive to their support sessions, knowing that their children are being held, fed, comforted to sleep, and supported.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED : Majura Pines Trail Alliance
The Majura Pines Recreation area is an 80 hectare forest on the outskirts of Canberra.
Majura Pines Trail Alliance mountain biking group have provided the residents of the ACT, as well as regional, national and international guests the opportunity to ride the 25km of hand built and hand maintained mountain biking trails.
WINNER: Brigitte Tehei O’Keeffe
For 18 years Brigitte has been raising the voices of women, children, and families from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in the ACT.
Brigitte is a proactive volunteer on a number of governing bodies in the ACT and shows outstanding leadership in organising events to raise awareness and educate people on the importance of preventing domestic violence in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Sarah Kelly
Sarah has been an exceptional volunteer leader at Karinya House Committee for 20 years,
Sarah has supported the Association through the challenges of COVID, leadership changes, high service demands and the continued development of Karinya House’s Strategic Plan in a changing world.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Rachel Eslick-Angus
Rachel provides support to children in the community who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. She facilitates small group sessions which equip children with emotional regulation skills, coping strategies, and self-care tools.
Rachel is warm and empathic, and also has lived experienced of grief, which allows her to connect with the participants making the sessions even more impactful.
WINNER: John Eggleton
John is an exceptional advocate for mental health, having dedicated countless hours to volunteering with Mental Illness Education ACT over the past 6 years, including the delivery of more than 300 education sessions in the community.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Carol Jennings
Carol supports the Canberra community through running the Water Wombats program – an inclusive, safe and rewarding swimming program for children with additional needs or those who just need some extra support.
Carol runs Water Wombats with an adaptive, inclusive and supportive environment with a strong social justice influence.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Vinnies Migrant & Refugee Program Volunteers
The Vinnies Migrant and Refugee Program is a volunteer driven program that supports primary and secondary aged children from a migrant or refugee background to thrive.
This program assists young culturally and linguistically diverse children to thrive in education settings.
WINNER
Cyndy Newman Piromalli & Wendy Brookman
Cyndy and Wendy are proud Aboriginal women, who have made and continue to make extensive contributions to the Valley Dragons Junior Rugby League Football Club.
Wendy and Cyndy have been instrumental over the years with supporting the Dragons Junior club to improve its cultural awareness and safety practices, ensuring the club is a safe space for Indigenous players, their families and the broader community.
WINNER: Marion Williams
Marion has been volunteering at Questacon for 36 years and has played a crucial role in the development and continued vibrancy of the program. Marion is 84 years old and gives her time twice a week to engage Questacon’s visitors with science. She is a wonderful female role model for all young people looking at a career in STEM and is very generous with her time to mentor new volunteers.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Neville Tomkins
Neville volunteers 10 to 12 hours every day for a wide range of community organisations, including Scouts, Australian Red Cross, St Vincent de Paul Society and others.
Neville is a selfless volunteer, giving his time and energy to support the community in so many different ways.
WINNER:
Georgia Elliot
Georgia volunteers her time at Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) supporting numerous families with seriously ill children in Canberra Hospital. Georgia’s role at RMHC includes providing wellbeing items to provide respite to families in the hospital environment.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Zoe Barlow
Zoe is a caring young volunteer who volunteers at Good Omen Goodeze, a local charity that runs crafting workshops for vulnerable people. They also donate comforting creations to people in ICU and end of life care. Zoe supports the crafting workshops, mentors new members and delivers crafted items.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Isha Singhal
Isha volunteers across many different advocacy organizations and areas, and embodies the saying of being the change you wish to see in the world.
Isha is a dedicated volunteer who cares deeply about supporting young women and improving the inclusivity of Canberra.
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WINNER: Early Morning Centre Breakfast Volunteer Team
The Early Morning Centre opened in 2005 and volunteers have been an essential part of the services it provides to people experiencing homelessness and social isolation in Canberra. All the volunteers share a desire to provide a safe, respectful and welcoming space where guests can access support, essential services and community activities.
Guests of the early morning centre feel a sense of community and are treated with respect and seen as real people, not outsiders in society.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: John Forsey
John volunteers at Parentline ACT and is a highly motivated and dedicated volunteer. He generously gives his time, knowledge and skills in providing phone-based counselling for parents and carers, supporting them and giving advice on parenting. John’s volunteer work makes the world of a difference for parents and carers, helping them through exceptionally difficult times.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED: Liam Macwilliam
Liam is a hard working volunteer for NSW Rural Fire Service, shown through his involvement and engagement in many different areas – being a member of the training advisory group, an instructor for multiple courses within the RFS and being a captain, junior member coordinator and cadet coordinator.
Award Sponsors
Official Event Partner
MF & Associates, a Fujitsu company is a Canberra-based consulting company committed to inclusion, diversity and trust. Acquired by Fujitsu Australia, MF&A aligns with the Fujitsu’s Uvance initiative that provides innovative solutions to address business challenges and solve societal issues.
Blue Arc IT Solutions
Blue Arc IT Solutions are an efficient, supportive and friendly IT service provider in Canberra. Blue Arc provide responsive, customer focused support and have been essential to enhancing the service delivery and operations of VolunteeringACT.
Fujitsu
Fujitsu Australia are proud to sponsor the Inclusion Award as they are similarly determined to address the complex and interconnected issues of sustainability and society through an inclusion lens, to create positive social outcomes for their people, customers, communities, and the planet. Fujitsu’s commitment is driven by their company purpose to ‘make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation’.
Synergy Law
Synergy Law works in partnership with VolunteeringACT to provide pro bono legal advice to our member organisations and has deep experience on complex legal, policy and program matters. VolunteeringACT thanks Synergy Law for their support of volunteering, and of the Volunteering Awards.
Canberra Labor Club
The Canberra Labor Club are a long-term supporter of VolunteeringACT. We appreciate the Labor Club’s commitment to the Canberra community and to volunteers.